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Success Stories
Angie Medina, standing, works for Infoline, which is part of a group of United Way-funded agencies that make up the Food Resource Committee in Greater Waterbury.
By Dawn Caminiti
©2003 Republican-American
WATERBURY — Antoinette Cassino wants to thank the food pantries in Waterbury for all the years they gave her children a Thanksgiving dinner.
Cassino is a single parent living on disability checks because of a bad back. She has an 18-year-old daughter who has been in and out of the hospital, leaving Cassino with a mountain of medical bills. And she has four other children to feed.
"For Thanksgiving holidays I couldn't always get a turkey or other food," Cassino said. "If it wasn't for Angie [Medina] and the agencies, I wouldn't have any holidays."
Medina works for Infoline, part of a group of agencies that make up the Food Resource Committee in Greater Waterbury. Committee members represent food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the area.
The Food Resource Committee is one of 34 agencies in the Greater Waterbury Area financed by the United Way.
Each year the United Way raises money to give to the programs and agencies it supports.
Kristen Perrotti, president of United Way, said the committee first met in February 2001 as part of an effort to unite food resources in Greater Waterbury. Fifteen food pantries and soup kitchens are part of the committee.
Infoline is a three-digit information and referral crisis hot line. Infoline keeps a database of food pantries and food banks in the area for people who call in looking for food.
One agency to which Infoline refers people is the Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries, which has the largest food pantry in the area, according to Carroll Brown, executive director of the agency. It was Brown who started bringing food banks and soup kitchens together. The interfaith ministries is made up of 53 churches in the area.
"Kristen [Perrotti] heard about it and gathered more people. It was a collaborative effort to come together with the Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries," Brown said.
Like many of the food pantries and soup kitchens in the committee, the interfaith ministries offers a variety of options to the community, including a food pantry, soup kitchen and fuel and energy resources.
Its food pantry is open two hours a day, five days a week at 84 Crown St. in the basement of the old St. Thomas Church.
"We are here to supplement their shopping needs. We are not a Stop & Shop or Shop Rite," Brown said, adding that visits to the pantry are limited to once a month.
To be served, people must have identification including a birth certificate, Social Security card and photo ID.
During the year, the number of people coming to the food pantry increased "tremendously" according to Brown. It serves about 15,000 people a year, she said.
"Every month you see the same faces, and we're seeing new faces now," Brown said. "Anybody who walks in is serviced. We don't turn people away."
Brown said there are plans for a library at the food pantry next year, provided organizers get money for it.
The pantry also offers fuel and energy assistance. Dianna Budzinski, fuel and energy coordinator for the Waterbury Interfaith Ministries, said, "Sometimes it's hard to make a decision to buy groceries or get oil."
In addition to the food pantry and fuel and oil bank, the Interfaith Ministries also operates a soup kitchen at St. John's Church on Church Street. It is open six days a week from noon to 2:30 p.m.
"Anybody can eat at the soup kitchen," Brown said. It serves about 40,000 people a year.
Infoline received 500 calls about food pantries from July 2001 to June 2002. It had 172 calls for food stamps, 60 calls for soup kitchens, 120 calls for Christmas baskets and 90 calls for Thanksgiving baskets.
Cassino has been getting help from Infoline and Waterbury food pantries for 10 years. "Every time I called Infoline, I always talked to Angie [Medina]. She always came through for me and my family."
Cassino said staff at Infoline and the food pantries are "professional, good-hearted and caring."
"It could be very depressing, the holidays, without a helping hand. And I just want to thank them," Cassino said. "And I hope through the years the United Way can help more people."
To donate to the Food Resource Committee, call Perrotti at the United Way at 757-9855. To donate food or to locate a food pantry or soup kitchen, call the United Way or call Infoline at 211.
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